Perfection
by entwined-in-a-web
Summary: /"Even if you're not perfect, we'll still love you." Natalie strives to be perfect. But somehow, it's just not working. REVIEW PLEASE! Bad summary...sorry...


**A/N:WOOT! Almost to 200 fics, guys! Ok, I don't know how I came up with this…And I just watched the off-Broadway version of N2N, so it's really angsty and fluffy at the same time! Enjoy! Italics are flashbacks!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N….or Henry…I wish I did…he's too adorable…**

_Nine-year-old Natalie stood nervously backstage at her first big recital. She was about to begin to warm up on the little keyboard her teacher kept back there. _

_She had never been so nervous in her life. This was it. Her one moment to finally shine, to prove to everyone that she was worth something. So as she began to quickly play her piece, she heard a knock on the door of the practice room. Without thinking, she opened it to find her father smiling optimistically at her._

"_You ready, Nat?"_

_She shook her head furiously. "I'm scared."_

"_What's there to be scared of?"_

"_Everything…What if I mess up?"_

_He just kept smiling at her as he crouched down to her level so that her eyes were meeting his. _

"_Who cares if you mess up?"_

"_I do."_

"_And even if you do mess up, it'll still be wonderful."_

_She shook her head and turned away from him. "No…I'm gonna make it perfect…"_

"_Perfection is hard to come by, Natalie."_

_She walked away from him and sat down on the chair in front of the keyboard. "I can do it. I promise it'll be perfect."_

_He smiled and walked over towards her, taking a seat next to her. "You just try your best. That's what counts. Remember, though. Even if you're not perfect, we'll still love you."_

_She nodded and mumbled, "Thanks, Dad…" It was her turn to go. She quickly embraced her father and darted onstage._

Seven years later, she only wished she had the same confidence as she did back then. Now she was anything but confident. She sat shaking in Henry's car, just like she always did when things like this happened.

She watched him apologize to the club manager over and over again. Tonight she had a huge amount of pills, half of which she wasn't even familiar with, and she got drunk and almost started a bar fight. The manager walked away as Henry hopped back into the car.

He sighed, showing that he was annoyed with her. "Natalie…"

"What?" she spat defensively.

"You've _got_ to stop this…you could've gotten hurt or something."

"Not like any one would care…"

He shook his head and looked straight into her big, brown eyes. "_I_ would care. Your parents would care."

"No they wouldn't…"

He stopped to think for a moment. She was hurting. That's why she was doing all this. It was her only escape, despite how many times he told her that there was a better solution to comfort her than her drugs. And that was him.

"Of course they would…They love you."

"Henry…they don't. _I_ should know. I lived with it for sixteen years…They hate me. They want me to be perfect and they can't accept that I'm not who they want me to be…"

He pulled her towards him and held her in his arms. "You don't have to be perfect. They love you even if you're not perfect…"

"B-But…I-"

"And _I_ love you. And you wanna know something? If you wanna strive to be perfect, you've gotta get rid of the drugs. You've gotta stop this…it's holding you back. It's not making you any happier…"

She just started to cry into his shoulder. He was right. It didn't help her. It _never_ helped her. She wanted to be free from everything. But it kept on dragging her down.

"Look, I know this seems like a huge shock to you, but you don't know how scared I get when I have to come and get you every night. I'm afraid that something happened. I'm afraid of losing you."

She quickly pulled herself out of his embrace, crossing her arms angrily. "Well, if I'm really that fucked up, then maybe we shouldn't be together anymore…"

Without hesitation, he grabbed onto her shoulders, spinning her around so that she was forced to look right at him. "No. I don't care if you're perfect. I don't _want_ you to be perfect. I want you to be yourself. I need you to be Natalie. Because lately I don't know where she went…"

She knew she would hate herself for it later, but she collapsed into his arms again, this time not even trying to fight back. "I-I'm s-sorry…"

"It's ok…it's not your fault…I know what this is like. But please remember that I love you, so much, even if you aren't perfect." He turned to kiss her cheek softly as she continued to cry. "We should get you home."

She nodded and embraced him tightly before he began to start the car. She remembered that very first recital. How confident she felt. She couldn't help to notice that it was back. And it was Henry who returned it. She didn't seem to be perfect enough for herself.

But to him, she was beyond it.

**A/N: Sorry…I didn't know how to end this…And I was half-asleep when I wrote this…So please excuse me…**

**Reviews?**


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